Reducing stems of tobacco-leaves



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WM. NV. HUSE, OF BR ooKLYN, NEW YORK.

REDUCING STEMS OF TOBACCO-LEAVES.

Specification forming-part of Letters Patent No. 43,853, dated August 16, 1864.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. HUsE, of Brooklyn, Kings county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Reducing the Central Stem or Stalk on Tobacco-Leaves; and

' machinery.

For many purposes, in the preparation and manufacture of tobacco, particularly chewing-tobacco, it is important to flatten the projecting stem which extends along the center of the leaf. It has been attempted to accomplish this by passing the leaf between two cylindrical rollers, which grip and crush the stem; but the use of this has been attended with serious difculty in practice, for the reason that such rollers will not guide'the leaf, and the stem is liable run out between the rollers,which then injure the leaf. By my invention all that is necessary is to properly. startv the leaf, and then it will be properly guided through, so as to insure the crushing ofY the stem without'dangerof injury to the leaf; and to this end my said invention consists ofthe employment, in combination, of two rollers, the periphery of one of which is formed with a groove to receive the stem of the leaf, and the other formed with a bead or fillet, in form the reverse of the groove of the other roller. When the stem is of considerable size, crushing it alone is not sufficient, andin such cases it has heretofore been found necessary to strip it off. I have discovered, however, that by slitting and crushing such large stems it avoids the necessity of stripping them; and to this end my said invention also consists in combining with the rollers formed with a groove and bead or fillet acutting-edge on the central part of the bead or fillet.

In the accompanying drawing, a and b represent two parallel shafts mounted in a suitable frame, and geared to rotate with equal velocity, one of them being provided with a pulley or other suitable means for receiving motion from a motor.v These two shafts carry a pair of rollers or wheels, c d, of about equal diameter. rlhe periphery of the lower one, d,

I is grooved, as represented, the said groove being of sufficient width to receive the largest portion of the central stem ofa tobacco-leaf when crushed, and the periphery of the upper roller, c, is formed with aprojecting bead or fillet to fit the. groove of the lower roller. The boxes in which the journals of the shafts turn are either so made and Xed that there will be the required space between the two rollers for the passage of a leaf when the stem iscrushed, or the boxes may be made adjustset as required. As the rollers rotate, the tobacco-leaves are introduced one by one inthe bite ofthe two rollers, with the stem in the groove of the lower roller, and so soon as it is caught it will be carried through, the sides of the groove guiding and keeping the stem in line so as to insure its being crushed without danger of injuring the leaf. The form of the groove and bea-d or fillet may be varied, although I prefer the form represented. Two other rollers or wheels, e f, are mounted on the same shaft, the peripheries of thetwo being formed as the rollers c d,- but in addition to this the upper roller, e, is provided with a cuttingedge. g, which projects all around from the middle of the bead or fillet, and the middle of the groove of the lower roller is formed all around,to receive the cutting-.edge of the upper roller. By this means,as the leaves of tobacco are passed between these two rollers,the stems are split-as well as crushed from end to end.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent for crushing thestems of tobaoco-leaves, isl j l. The employment, in combination, of two rollers or wheels, the periphery of onebeing leaves, and the periphery of the other being formed with a fillet or bead to t'iu the said groove, to crush the stem, substantially as described.

2. The cutting-edge on one of the rollers or wheels for splitting the stem, in combination with the groove and bead or fillet for guiding and crushing the stem,A substantially as described.

VILLIAM W. HUSE.

Witnesses:

W. H. BrsHor, ANDREW DE LACY.

able in the usual way, that the rollers may be grooved to receive and guide the stem of the 

